Farscape Epic RPG: Wabbit Season
by Chant99
Summary: Based on my RPG Game. A little silliness aboard Moya. Please read the foreward in chapter 1 for explaination of new characters.
1. Foreword

**THE FARSCAPE EPIC RPG UNIVERSE: NEW CHARACTERS & SETTING.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This story was written based on the characters from my Farscape RPG group. So far I've gotten some very nice reviews here on the fan-fic stories based on the RPG characters and Farscape AU story line, so I'll continue to post them as long as people enjoy reading them. But first I need to explain a bit about our RPG so you can follow the extra characters and the alternate Farscape universe we have going.

The name of the original group on Yahoo is "Farscape Epic RPG", but it was hijacked by a hacker and Yahoo was less than helpful with attempting to regain control, so the regular members moved to a new group that is now called: "The Alliance Wars" and it can also be found on Yahoo groups for those who wish to look us up.

The game is still based in an alternate Farscape universe that diverges from the shows timeline somewhere after Talyn's birth but before the Chiana/D'argo relationship.

The **Jared Berret** character here is basically the same **Shrike 457** character from the "Fallen Angel" series posted here, although the original meeting between Chiana and the Shrike took place in a different way in the game.

The other new characters in this story are original player characters.

**Andar Murdough** - is a Sebacean teacher from a forgotten and lost colony. Andar's people have lost so much knowledge over the cycles that space flight is considered science fiction. Andar is abducted by aliens who experiment on his brain trying to increase intelligence. The project works much better then they thought and Andar steals a shuttle and eventually finds his way to Moya. Andar becomes a sponge for any sort of knowledge and begins to go through Moya's data banks learning everything he can. He often sees machines or gadgets in his mind and will disappear for days into his workshop to build them. (The Andar character belongs to _Murdough2000_.)

**Malika Phatan** - is a 125-year-old Delvian teenager. After spending a number of cycles as a Peacekeeper slave aboard a command carrier, she and her mother escape in a Prowler, but at the cost of the life of a young PK officer who fell in love and secretly married Malika. After a time of running and hiding, the pair run into a Syndicate Shrike and the meeting leaves young Malika with an intense hatred and distrust for the Enforcers when the assassin kills a client Malika took a job bodyguarding for, and almost kills her and her mother in the process. Sometime after that, Malika's mother is tragically killed, leaving the girl alone. She hears a story about an escaped Leviathan with a Delvian Pa'u aboard and sets out to find the living ship with the hopes of fulfilling her mother's dream of her becoming a Pa'u. She finds Moya and Zhaan (who is alive in our game) and the older Delvian agrees to take her in. However, now there is a Shrike aboard Moya as Chiana's companion, and she is having a hard time controlling the tendencies for violence she developed during the hard life she lived on the run from the Peacekeepers. Through young, Malika is also a skilled healer and thanks to her parents, an educated student of exobiology. She sets up a small lab on one of Moya's lower tiers, mostly to hide out from having to be around Berret ... and possibly Andar. Both Andar and Malika feel an attraction to each other, but the Delvian isn't sure she wants to open her heart to another after what happened to her Peacekeeper husband. (The Malika character belongs to _Lonegirl189_.)

**Sean Crichton** - 70 years after the disappearance of astronaut John Crichton, his descendant Sean uses John and DK's research to construct the Wander module. In an attempt to prove that his ancestor's theories were sound, Sean repeats the slingshot effect and is also thrown halfway across the universe only with a slightly different result. The Wanderer module is somehow draw backward in time to the Farscape module's location and is expelled from a wormhole near Moya. Sean finds himself stun to be surrounded by a group of aliens and suddenly faced with a family legend. (Some early stories take place before Sean's arrival, while at the time of some later stories, Sean has used a wormhole to return to Earth, carrying advanced technology with him in an attempt to get his homeworld ready for the threats that face them. Using a device built by Andar, Sean was also shot forward to his own time, though no one has any way of knowing if the younger Crichton has made it safely.) (The Sean Crichton character belongs to _Marspsi12_.)

**ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS & TERMS:** Created by Chant99 for the series. (Note: The crews' children appear in different stories from the ages of 4 to their 20's.)

**Andrea (Sun Crichton):** Age 27, oldest daughter of Aeryn Sun and John Crichton. Working now with Rygel and the alliance to form pacts with other races in the Territories, Andrea also has a secret she's keeping from her parents.

**Missy (Melissa Sun Crichton):** Age 25, youngest daughter of Aeryn Sun and John Crichton. Wife of Jalen and mother of Terralyn

**Jalen ('Len ):** Age 27, son of Chiana and Jared Berret. Husband of Missy Sun Crichton and father of Terralyn

**Chulee ('Lee):** Age 25, daughter of Chiana and Jared Berret.

**Terralyn:** Age 4, daughter of Missy Sun Crichton and Jalen. Granddaughter of John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Chiana, and Jared Berret.

**Joban Rickler**: First Sergeant of the 1st Elite Hynerian Guard at Rygel's Palace on Hyneria. Father of Tamilla and Nella. A large Sebacean man and farmer from a colony back-world that was overrun by the Scarrans. After his wife was killed, Joban took his daughters and escaped, becoming a refugee until finding his way to Hyneria and a position in the Hynerian Royal Guard. During his tour of duty at the palace, Joban meets Shrike Berret and his family (in "Future Tense"), during a raid on the crewmate's apartments by the Nebari to recover Chiana, the ex-farmer helps fight off the attackers to save the crew and is wounded. Sometime in the cycles afterward, Joban retires and occasionally travels aboard Moya with his new friends, helping with their cargo hauling business.

**Tamilla:** Oldest daughter of Joban Rickler and maid at Rygel's Palace. Later becomes mate to D'Argo's son, Jothee.

**Nella:** Youngest daughter of Joban Ricker. A nurse on Hyneria.

**Zhara (Mihyta Zhara):** Young Delvian acolyte of Zhaan's and a friend of Chulee's. Barely out of her teens for a Delvian at 120 cycles old, Zhara has yet to take her vows for the first level of the Delvian Seek. A pretty girl of good humor and a loyal friend to Chulee and the rest of the crew, she also carries a torch for Berret who's been alone now for over five cycles after Chiana's death. Besides pressure from Chulee to consider the young Delvian for a companion, Zhaan and Malika also try their best to interest the Shrike in their friend and student.

**Marai:** The master assassin once known as _Val'Cirrus_ (In "The Grandmaster") The reptilian female has now been healed and rehabilitate by the Shrike Grandmaster Shenna and is a full Master Shrike in the Mek-Klor-TaZ Shrike clan and Shenna's Right-hand. Marai deeply regrets her Syndicate past and is instrumental in bringing Berret into the fold of the clan. Despite their past almost deadly encounter, both Marai and Berret become allies.

**Warna Druz:** An 18 cycle old Sebacean girl and Shrike apprentice to Marai in the Mek-Klor-TaZ clan. She travels to Earth with her teacher in search of Berret and later accompanies him on a mission. Warna is fiercely loyal to Marai, especially after both her parents have died and Marai and the Clan raised her. Warna is also a very skilled pilot.

**Mytell:** Assistant to Nerri, former rebel leader and now Proconsul of the "Nebari Free States" on Nebari Secondus, and Chiana's brother. Mytell is also Chulee's suitor. After seeking permission to court his superior's niece and passing uncle Ka'D'Argo's severe scrutiny, Mytell is even more daunted to finally met his beloved's father upon his return to the Territories.

**Lerris:** Once Nebari Ambassador to Hyneria (in "Future Tense") Lerris has moved up to become Chancellor of Nebari Prime. Lerris and his henchman, Hyril, were responsible for the attack on the crewmate's quarters 20 cycles ago and the near fatal injuring of Chiana and Berret's son, Jalen. Berret viciously killed Hyril in an act of vengeance, but reluctantly left Lerris alive at Rygel's urging. Even after 20 cycles, Berret's hatred for Nebari outside of his family still burns, especially when it comes to Lerris.

**Lyric:** A 10-cycle-old Nebari orphan that Berret discovers on a New Syndicate outpost during a raid. Berret adopts the young girl into his family (both close and extended, meaning Moya's crew and the Shrike clan) A situation which creates more tension between Berret and Lerris, after the Chancellor attempts to take custody of the Nebari waif.

**Chiana, _Clone of:_** Using stolen DNA, the New Syndicate creates a clone of a teenage Chiana in an attempt to obliterate Berret before he can fulfill Shenna's wish for him to become the next Grandmaster of the Territories most powerful Shrike clan. The threat of a rogue Enforcer that once destroyed an old Syndicate High House is too great for the new organization to risk, so the clone is constructed. Born with the memories of a rebellious teen Chiana, the Syndicate makes her believe that Berret is responsible for the original Chiana's death and trains her to become a Shrike Enforcer who's sole purpose is to track Berret down and kill him.

**Val'Cirris:** see _"Marai"._

**Arckatius:** The Scarran leader of the Black Syndicate House that enslaved Berret and made him a Shrike Enforcer / Assassin. Arckatius is a distant cousin of Scorpius' and is slightly demented for a Scarran, believing himself to be a "King". In "The Grandmaster", Arckatius sends his Master Shrike, Val'Cirrus after Berret to kill him and bring back his control collar - which contains information about several operations that Berret took part in for the Black Syndicate. Berret had vowed to kill the Scarran Syndicate leader in repayment for his enslavement and the life he feels that Arckatius has destroyed. Driven by the haunting nightmares of the lives he was forced to take as a Syndicate Enforcer, Berret felt that killing Arckatius would go some way in atoning for his "sins." He also held the Scarran responsible for what he thought at the time as his inability to love Chiana... and that the Nebari girl could never love him in return because of the things he has done in his Syndicate past. Arckatius met his end somewhere in the events that take place in the story "I, Assassin."

**Grandmaster Zear Shenna:** The leader of the mysterious Shrike Clan of Assassin Warriors of legend. A Delvian man over 1600 cycles old, Shenna sometimes appeared when Berret or the crew found themselves needing help. For some reason Shenna has a mysterious interest in Berret and is somehow able to keep track of him and the crew no matter where they traveled in the Territories. The crew isn't sure what his agenda is, but so far he seems to genuinely have the group's best interest in heart.

Grandmaster Shenna revealed some of the true history of the Shrike Clans to Berret and Chiana in "The Grandmaster," where they learned that the Syndicate 'borrowed' the term 'Shrikes' for their assassin Enforcers... playing off the old legends of the ancient warrior / assassin / soldiers to increase the fearsome reputation of their killers.

**Magda:** One of the Scarran leaders of the New Syndicate. May have been responsible for creating and training the Enforcer Chiana clone.

**Kessca:** a young Skykarian female Shrike and friend of Warna. Member of a Shrike clan strike team.

**Ardenin Reese:** Sebacean First Shrike (unit leader) of a clan strike team.

**Tamos Hunter:** young Sebacean male Shrike. Youngest member of a clan strike team.

**Tonk:** Simterrian Shrike member of a clan strike team. Simterrians are large apelike beings that resemble a Wookie on steroids. Easily twice the mass of a Luxan, the Simterrians usually serve as the heavy weapons unit of a strike team. Their battle armor often includes shoulder-mounted weapons such as missile pods or light pulse cannon.

**Hark:** Simterrian Shrike member of a clan strike team. Like all Simterrians, Hark rarely speaks unless he has something important to say, and when he or Tonk do speak, it's wise to listen to what they have to say. Fiercely loyal and courageous, there are few better fighters to have on your side.

**Mek-Klor-TaZ Clan:** The true name for the Shrike sec that Grandmaster Shenna leads. This branch of Shrikes has served the Hynerian throne and Rygel's family for many generations. A pact of secrecy, support, and service as existed between the two organizations and is so strong that it is one of the few things Rygel would never think of betraying. The Dominar never reveals his knowledge all the long cycles aboard Moya to Berret, though he keeps an eye on the ex-Enforcer at Shenna's request.

**Scarran Black Syndicate:** (The Syndicate, Black Syndicate) Criminal organization that has it origins dating back to early Scarran culture. In modern times the membership is no longer restricted to only Scarrans, though the head of each family, known as "Houses" is typically a Scarran. The organization is technically outlawed and considered an enemy of the state by the Scarran Imperium, but the government is not above using the Syndicate as a resource if the situation warrants it. The Black Syndicate also has strong ties into other cultures and worlds and rumor has even into the highest ranks of Peacekeeper Command. All is not always peaceful inside the Syndicate as well. The hierarchy is divided into "High" and "Lower" Houses, each with their own territories, free agents, and preferred illegal operations. There are often violent and bloody feuds between various Houses over one thing or another. Each Syndicate House employs Enforcers or Assassins they call Shrikes, after mythic warriors of legend. Rumor has it that about 1000 cycles ago, a Syndicate House stumbled across one of the scattered real Shrike clans or schools. After enslaving the survivors they forced them to reveal some of their secrets and used them to re-create the Shrikes as a weapon for Syndicate use.

Using controlled slaves or free-willed murderers garbed in a version of Shrike battle armor and cloaks, the Black Syndicate wrote a bloody name for itself through the next 1000 cycles of history on the edge of brace blades made from a rare element that could shear through some metals, as well as flesh, as if it were paper.

**NEBARI BONDING:** The Nebari form of marriage. Life partners exchange vows before priest or other spiritual leader, at the end of which their witnesses pierce their left ears with matching earrings. Bonding is the one single aspect of Nebari culture that Chiana would not joyfully go out of her way to scoff at or disrespect.

**NEBARI – CHEEK RUBBING RITUAL:** Nebari by nature are highly sensual before mental conditioning. Kissing and sexual intimacy are often casual play for those who have escaped the Establishment before Mental Cleansing. Nebari constantly touching another person cheek-to-cheek is a form of body language to let the other person know they are special to them… and not just another casual frell.

**NEBARI NICKNAMES:** The nicknames of 'Len & 'Lee for Chiana and Berret's children, stem from a Nebari custom I invented for the story where close friends and family members used a shortened version of a person's name as a sign of a close or intimate relationship. Thus Jalen and Chulee are sometimes referred to as 'Len and 'Lee by their parents and other members of the crew. Chiana sometimes calls Berret - 'Ret, while Chiana is called 'Ana by her brother when they met. Nerri's name is not shortened in the story but would probably be something like 'Ri if it was. The ( ' ) is suppose to indicate a slight Nebari accent on the name. I leave that up to the read to imagine exactly how that would sound to them.

**BAT' RELLITE:** The Scarran term for a rare alloy used primarily to make the blades of a Shrikes brace weapons. The molecules of the metal are arranged in layers that vibrate in opposite directions from each other, creating a "saw-like" effect on the molecular level. Thus blades made from this element never need to be sharpened and can easily cut through lesser grades of metals – with the exception of Qualta. Qualta is denser and has a refracting quality that blocks Bat'Rellite's molecular cutting effect. This quality in Qualta is one reason why Luxan make their weapons, particularly the Qualta Sword, out of it. Weapons constructed of this material would most likely never blow up from accidental over-charging and remain serviceable for hundreds of cycles. The armor of Shrike Enforcers from High Syndicate Houses often have Qualta inlays to help defeat attacks by other Shrikes, as there is often in-fighting among the Houses for power and territory.

**THE "FUTURE TENSE" CHRONICLE:**

The Events from "Future Tense":

This story takes place approximately 11 cycles after the show's timeframe and my RPG game. At this time it has been already discovered that Berret is a human that had been abducted by alien slavers and sold to the Scarran Black Syndicate as a slave. Being a human is what had allowed Berret to survive the implantation of the experimental microbes that normally killed the average Sebacean. The microbes alter Berret's physiology to the point where he can no longer be considered an Earth human and in the beginning he feels no connection to John or Sean as being a member of the same species. Unlike the two Crichtons, he has no desire to return to Earth, as he would no longer fit in even if he could remember all of his past on his homeworld. Sometime during his time aboard Moya, Zhaan (who is alive, as well as Crais and Talyn in this universe.) helps him retrieve some memories from his past, one of which is his first name - Jared.

At John insistence that humans generally have two names, Berret adopts the name Jared Berret. While John sometimes refers to Berret as J.B., Chiana on the other hand often ignores or refuses to use the name Jared in the beginning. As she starts to realize she had feelings for the ex-assassin beyond their relationship as friends and crewmates, she finds she's strangely reluctant to acknowledge anything that was part of Berret's life before their meeting and sticks to the name Berret which she had given him. As time goes on and the pair go through various trials and adventures and are Bonded (Nebari version of marriage) the reluctance fades and she's comfortable using his first name, only falling back on the name Berret in times of severe stress or trouble.

The Events in "Future Tense: Broken Mirror":

The story picks up approximately a quarter cycle after the events in "Future Tense". The crew has decided to pick up their cargo hauling business when Jalen has recovered enough from his injuries despite the growing war between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans. On a supply run, an accident resulting from the use of a new Scarran weapon transports Zhaan and Berret into an alternate reality - and eleven cycles into the past.

Needless to say, the reality they end up in is the one from the show. This was written during the Chiana / D'argo relationship but before the arrival of Jothee or the death of Zhaan. This story is still ongoing and is nowhere near finished yet. It may take some time to do so as I have several other stories also in the works - so please be patient with me.

The Events in "Future Tense: Twilight's End":

Twenty cycles have passed since the events in "Broken Mirror." Chiana has passed away due to a strange illness, leaving her children, Berret, and the rest of the crew to go on without her. Berret has discovered that the microbes the Syndicate infected him with are not allowing him to age normally, well into his sixties, Berret still appears to be a man in his mid 30's. Growing no closer to old age and a time of rest, and feeling the loss of his beloved Bond-mate, Berret decided to leave Moya and return to Earth to explore his past. Time passes for Berret until Rygel and Shenna sent a plea for him to return to the Territories to help them face a growing menace that threatens them all. Berret returns to take part in one final conflict for control of the Territories - and the everlasting safety of his family and friends.

This story is also on-going and already has well over a 100 pages written and it's maybe half done. Unfortunately I jump around quite a bit when I write so this story is in sections that need more parts written yet to join them together.

As always, I have several storylines going, and go back and forth to keep from getting bored and the story from getting too stale. So it may sit for a while, while I give it a rest and work on something else. I feel its better for the story in the long run instead of forcing ideas to come just to finish it up. This story is meant to be the end of the adventure, and maybe the beginning of something else. After all, even Captain Kirk died in the end so that the story and the adventure could live on elsewhere. But then again... does anyone really die in Sci-fi?

Thanks for bearing with me through this long explanation. I truly also apologize for the layout of my last few stories, I have yet to figure out how to get the format from MS Word to transfer right to the site.

I truly hope you enjoy the story.

Chant99


	2. Wabbit Season

**Wabbit Season** -_Farscape Epic RPG Story_

ByChant99

Aeryn strolled casually down a corridor on Moya's fifth tier. She was wondering if she should try and find John to see if he'd found anyway to get into new trouble, but she put the task off for a few microts and tried to enjoy the few moments of solitude she rarely got to enjoy since coming aboard the Leviathan.

She'd just passed one of the corridor intersections when she realized that she'd caught something odd out of the corner of her eye. Retracing her steps, she went back to the intersection and glanced down the side hallway. To her bewilderment she saw Chiana in a combat crouch stalking away from her down the corridor. To make matters even odder, the Nebari girl was holding a glue-patch gun on guard like it was a pulse rifle.

The ex-Peacekeeper frowned to herself wondering what the girl was up too. The patch gun shot a blob of sticky blue hull sealant a short distance and was usually used to repair hull ruptures from the outside. The guns had come in handy on several occasions to catch ship-born rodents and pests and there was little harm Chiana could do with the device, but Aeryn still wondered what she was up to with it.

Chiana paused in her stalk several times to carefully look over the length of hallway in front of her before taking a few more steps and than stopping to repeat the scanning process.

The Sebacean woman moved down the corridor until she was near Chiana. The gray girl turned and glanced the ex-Peacekeeper's way while she was walking over, but turned back right away to scrutinize the area in front of her again… as if she were wary about taking her eyes from it for very long.

"Chiana? What are you doing?" Aeryn asked in puzzlement.

The Nebari held out one hand in a shushing motion and then beckoned Aeryn to step closer.

"I'm hunting Berret," she explained in a whisper when the other woman was close enough.

Aeryn was taken aback. "Why?" she asked with a baffled shake of her head.

Chiana cackled lowly. "We got into an argument about who was the sneakier, I mean… stealthier person." Chiana looked up at her with a wicked grin. "I bet him a month of laundry duty that I could sneak up on him before he even knew I was there."

"And Berret took this wager?" asked Aeryn.

"Ha-ha! Yeah!" chuckled Chiana proudly. "He fell for it hook and line-stinker as John says. It's a month free of laundry in the bag… pun intended." This last Chiana delivered with one of her trademark cocky smiles.

Aeryn looked at her with the doubt evident in her dark eyes. "This I have to see," she said. "Do you mind if I tag along?"

Chiana's grin faded. "Well… alright. But you have to be quite," she said hesitantly. "This is serious business."

"Oh, I quite imagine it is," Aeryn commented dryly, knowing how the small Nebari hated to do chores.

"Alright then, you can come along," Chiana said. "But don't make too much noise. He's close by, I know it."

Aeryn smirked. "I'll do my best not to trip over my own feet," she replied with a hint of sarcasm.

The pair moved off down the corridor and inspected several storage areas and bays, but didn't find any sign of the elusive Shrike. Aeryn watched in growing amusement while Chiana played commando. Cautiously searching a number of bins and crates for Berret and storming an almost equal number of equipment-closets, each time sure that the ex-assassin was hiding inside. On the next tier up, they searched Quarters with no better results.

They next entered Moya's maintenance access-ways and only managed to run across Rygel visiting one of his food hordes. The unfortunate Hynerian Dominar became the first casualty in the couple's little war game as Chiana mistakenly shot him with the patch gun, leaving the small grumbling being a sticky mess.

At least Chiana claimed to have shot Rygel on accident. Aeryn might have bought the first round of blue blob being a mishap, but around the third shot she pretty much had the idea that Chiana was shooting Rygel on purpose.

It didn't help that the grin she had on her face as she apologized to Rygel looked less then sincere.

Leaving the access-ways for more opened spaces, they managed to get themselves chased out of Zhaan's lab by the irritated Delvian. They entered Andar's lab to find the Sebacean teacher bend over his workbench. Andar barely acknowledged their presence as he continued working, and when he did, he absently called them Rygel and Sean. In Maintenance bay two; Chiana got into a running "gun battle" against a grease gun armed Sean with neither side scoring any hits on the other. The young human made as if to include Aeryn in the fun but a warning look from the ex-Peacekeeper made the man decide that getting Aeryn greasy might be bad for his continued health, so he went back to working on the Wanderer Module.

Chiana led Aeryn down another corridor to an Amnexus junction. As they arrived they spied a pair of feet protruding from a removed access hatch.

"Ah-ha!" exclaimed Chiana in glee as she raised her weapon and started to slink in for the kill.

"Chiana, wait," Aeryn said grabbing her arm, "that's John."

Chiana tilted her head quizzically at the Sebacean woman. "Are ya sure?" she asked.

At that moment the metallic ring of a fallen tool sounded from inside the panel, followed by several very Crichton-like curses as the man squirmed around trying to locate the lost item in the confined space.

"Yes, I'm sure," replied Aeryn. "I recognized his boots and the pants he's wearing," she added for good measure.

Chiana's mischievous grin grew wider. "You can't be too sure, ya know? Berret's crafty," she said with a devious wiggle of her eyebrows to emphasize her statement.

Before Aeryn could move to stop her, Chiana shoved the muzzle of the patch-gun into the access space with the prone man.

"Gotcha!" she said as she pulled the gun's trigger several times in quick secession.

A series of wet splats accompanied John's cry of indignation.

"Hey! What the hell?"

Chiana stood up straight with a mock look of surprise… as if she hadn't truly expected to hear John's voice. "Opps," said the Nebari girl. She realized that Crichton was attempting to scramble out of the tiny opening so she turned to the other woman saying, "Time for us to go!"

She grabbed Aeryn's hand and ran just as Crichton managed to free himself from the hatchway, all covered in blue goop.

"Jesus H…" he started just as he spotted the fleeing females. "Aeryn? Pip? What going on? What the hell just happened?" He saw the patch gun in Chiana's hands and put it together with what was covering him. "Damnit! PIP!" he roared.

Despite everything, Aeryn found herself giggling with Chiana as they made their getaway. John's condition and the look on his face was worth anything the man might do to them later in revenge. If anything, her new crewmates had taught her how to laugh, something she did rarely as a Peacekeeper.

Further down the corridor they resumed their hunt for the missing Berret. Aeryn suggested they try looking in D'argo's quarters but Chiana vetoed that suggestion knowing the huge Luxan was sleeping at the time. And she doubted the warrior have much of a sense of humor if they woke him. Chiana racked her brain trying to think of where else Berret could be hiding.

"I have an idea," she said out loud and went to the nearest holo-comm. She tapped in a code on the clamshell and Malika's image appeared an instant later.

"What?" said the Delvian's image testily.

"Ummm… is Berret down there in your lab?" Chiana asked.

Malika frowned at the interruption. "No, he isn't. I haven't seen him all day?"

Chiana didn't look convinced. It would be just like the ex-assassin to talk the Delvian girl into hiding him out, knowing because of the tenseness between the young Delvian and the Shrike assassin, Chiana would never think to look for him there.

But Chiana wasn't that easily fooled, she thought to herself smugly.

"Then you wouldn't mind if we came down there to look around then," the Nebari said cagily.

Malika's began to visibly lose her temper. "I know about that silly game the two of you are playing and Rygel was just here looking for some hull-patch solvent." Chiana put on her best "Who, me?" innocent look and hid the patch gun behind her back, not sure if the Delvian could see it in the holo. "If you think you're going to come down here and make a mess of my research lab… think again!"

Malika cut the communication link abruptly, leaving Aeryn and Chiana looking at a suddenly empty clamshell.

"Well, I guess that answers that question," said Aeryn.

They searched for another arn during which, Chiana attempted to gain Pilot's assistance in tracking down the Shrike. Moya's helmsman claimed not to know the man's whereabouts, even though Chiana insisted that he was helping hide Berret from her. Chiana's stomach soon started to grumble and she decided that while she wasn't going to give up on finding the Shrike, she would take a break and stop by the Center Chamber for something quick to eat before they continued the hunt.

They were discussing the possibility of commandeering some DRDs to help when Aeryn suddenly came to a halt outside the Center Chamber doors.

"Uh-oh," she said in an uneasy voice.

"What's wrong?" asked Chiana.

Aeryn looked over at her suddenly. "I should have thought of this sooner. I think I figured out where Berret is," she said.

"Where?" Chiana inquired as she perked up, "Let's go and get him then!"

Aeryn's expression turned painful as she slowly pointed upwards at the ceiling above them.

Dumbfounded, Chiana followed her gaze upwards to find Berret suspended over their heads between two hull braces in a makeshift harness cobbled together from surplus PK duty-belts. She saw he was smiling and his patch gun's muzzle was pointed right at her.

"OH DREN…!" she got out just as the wet sticky blue blob smacked her in the face.

3


End file.
